Larry Mendte Laments Lack Of Local Talk In Philly

[DToTheJ]

Former KYW-TV anchor Larry Mendte wrote an op-ed for Philadelphia Magazine, arguing that a city that can support up to three local sports radio stations is good enough for a second news/talk station, one with hosts that address local issues, and at the same time, pick up free agents Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. Additionally, he believes that the leading local news/talk station, WPHT, is "crumbling under the weight of [Michael Smerconish's] ego."
http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2010/12/09/we-need-another-talk-radio-station-in-philly/

By the way, he writes "Smerconish is moving to mid-days," while Dom Giordano, "the area’s only true Philadelphia talk-show host, [is moving] to afternoons." Unless Mendte has some information we don't, I'd say he has his facts a little mixed up.

 

[DG02816]

The $64,000 question is this: If a second news/talker dedicated to local stuff a la NJ101.5 were to start, where would it go on the dial? Salem would want a pretty penny for either 560 or 990.Ditto Disney for 640;the night signal there would need more than 950 watts to cover the market. Slim chance for 860, if it could be pried out of Beasley's hands. Again, the 10 kW day signal does well, but some heavy-duty work would be needed for a decent night signal protecting CJBC in Toronto.900 and 1340 are too boxed in on their frequencies to do anything, and 1480 drops off the table after dark with just 1 kW at night; neither the 1 kW at night or the 5 kW day signal cover the whole market well. I could see 1540 having a chance, but it would need an upgrade to get decent night power. Where on FM? Only 103.9 and 107.9 seem doable. We'll just have to wait and see.....

 

[MattParker]

I guess Scary Larry never head of Radio Times on WHYY-FM.

Does Larry still live in the area?

This article seems like a publicity ploy. Does he expect (is he trying to) make a come back as a local news presenter in Philly?

 

[aindik]

I guess Scary Larry never head of Radio Times on WHYY-FM.

Does Larry still live in the area?

This article seems like a publicity ploy. Does he expect (is he trying to) make a come back as a local news presenter in Philly?

I think it's more transparent than that. He expects to make a come back as a local radio talk show host in Philly, but the only talk station in town is owned by the company that fired him.

 

[MattParker]

I guess Scary Larry never head of Radio Times on WHYY-FM.

Does Larry still live in the area?

This article seems like a publicity ploy. Does he expect (is he trying to) make a come back as a local news presenter in Philly?

I think it's more transparent than that. He expects to make a come back as a local radio talk show host in Philly, but the only talk station in town is owned by the company that fired him.

@aindik: Excellent point. Let me add that CBS at this very minute has a guy reading news over on KYW who once did a very highly regarded TV talk show on channel 6 if they want to go live and local on 1210. And this is a guy who has no record of co-worker lawsuits or violations of HR policies. He's had his show canceled but he wasn't fired for cause.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

If memory serves, CBS Radio's putting that KYW guy on 1210 would bring him full circle-- wasn't he a talk host for WCAU 1210 before going to Channel 6?

For the record (and putting aside his off-the-air matters), I do indeed think Mendte would be an excellent talk radio host. And his commentary with regard to the lack of local Talk in Philly is spot-on.

 

[HarrytheK1]

(Mendte) writes "Smerconish is moving to mid-days," while Dom Giordano, "the area’s only true Philadelphia talk-show host, [is moving] to afternoons." Unless Mendte has some information we don't, I'd say he has his facts a little mixed up.

That's why we're so lucky you posted an average of 7.463 times a day - every day - for the past 47 months!!! Otherwise, important things like this might get by us.

We're all looking forward to your other 6.463 posts today

 

[pjc1961]

Larry's recently been doing commentaries on Tribune's WPIX-TV (Channel 11) New York. His blog: http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/larrymendte/

 

[MattParker]

Larry's recently been doing commentaries on Tribune's WPIX-TV (Channel 11) New York. His blog: http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/larrymendte/

Some management changes at Tribune. According to Robert Feder, Larry's pal from the old days at WBBM is out. Larry may see the handwriting on the wall. That's why he's angling for talk radio in Philly.

By the way, how come nobody seems to know WHYY-FM is a talk station? They even have a two-hour daily local talk show, which means Dom isn't the only local host either.

 

[pab]

No one counts WHYY-FM because it's non-com.

 

[MattParker]

No one counts WHYY-FM because it's non-com.

Really? Arbitron counts them. They have a cume of over 460,000. I'm sure those people count them. There is cume is almost as much as WPHT and way more than WNTP. And people who listen to WHYY have IQs with three digits. Can the ditto-heads say as much.

Non-commercial is a fine legal point. WHYY is running spots for blue chip sponsors. Banks. Brokerage firms. Fortune 500 companies. WPHT has Verbal Advantage, eHarmony and other bottom-feeders. I'd don't have access to the books of each station but I suspect WHYY's "underwriting" income compares very favorably with WPHT's sales revenue.

 

[wcradio2]

Regardless of non-comm status, the point (and a valid one) is that Marty Moss-Coane is an excellent local radio host on WHYY. She covers a wide range of topics including excellent local political coverage of both 'sides'.
When other bigtime talk radio guys who are pumped in from elsewhere are giving us their opinions... Radio Times is generally giving us news.
It's often local, and always well researched and presented.
And while Moss-Coane's opinions sometimes come through, the coverage of the actual news and of messages from both sides are well represented and coverered.

 

[MattParker]

Regardless of non-comm status, the point (and a valid one) is that Marty Moss-Coane is an excellent local radio host on WHYY. She covers a wide range of topics including excellent local political coverage of both 'sides'.
When other bigtime talk radio guys who are pumped in from elsewhere are giving us their opinions... Radio Times is generally giving us news.
It's often local, and always well researched and presented.
And while Moss-Coane's opinions sometimes come through, the coverage of the actual news and of messages from both sides are well represented and coverered.

Thank you, WC. You said it better than I did. While many (including me) have some reservations about WHYY's management (and their salaries) and some of their news practices, the deserve credit for the talk shows they produce.
Fresh Air is no longer a local show but remains one of the best and most interesting interview shows any where. WHYY has other options between 10 and noon: "On Point" from WBUR, Boston and "Diane Rehm" from WAMU, Washington are both available (live) in that time slot. Both are excellent shows and many public radio news and information stations carry one or the other. WHYY could take either show, spend less money to fill the time slot and not have a shoddy on-air product. Instead they have gone to the trouble, expense and risk to develop and produce a local show good enough to be national. Good for them.

Is there room for more local talk than Dom and Marty? Yes.

I'd like to WPHT become live and local, and a lot more like the old 'CAU (once an outstanding station). I think with the right talent and the right approach (non-ideological IMHO), they could do well. I hope CBS knows better than to let "Scary Larry" be part of it. I hope they are smart enough to realize they are wasting a real talk talent by having Wally Kennedy reading wire copy.

 

[DevilsAdvacat]

If Larry wants people to read what he writes, he should
give out some tips on how to read your coworkers email
for a couple of years without them knowing it.

I'm going to guess that he could still be secretly reading
Skank Lanes' messages if he had not begun reporting
the information he was getting to other media outlets.

I'm still trying to figure out how the media people who
took this private information public, did not also lose
their jobs.

Bill Z

 

[MikefromDelaware]

I agree with Matt, that WHYY-FM has an excellent product in both Radio Times and Fresh Air. My guess is, eventually we could also hear Radio Times go national via NPR as Fresh Air did, which would be another feather in the cap for WHYY-FM. Marty Moss-Coane's show is very well done, both on local Philly topics as well as the national ones.

I have listened to On Point on line and it too is an excellent talk show from WBUR Boston, on the same level of Philly's Radio Times.

Of course WHYY may choose to keep Radio Times as their local Philly talk show as they'd lose the ability to do an hour on Philly/Delaware Valley issues if airing nationally via NPR. In any case, I'm a regular listener to WHYY-FM as their programming is a refreshing change from the usual one sided political talk that generally permeates the airwaves of both Philly and Wilmington news/talk stations.

WHYY-FM's other daypart programs are great as well: Morning Edition, BBC News Hour, of course Radio Times, Here and Now, Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Fresh Air, and All Things Considered. It's not surprising, to me, that WHYY-FM does quite well in the ratings, even though it's a non-comm NPR station. If I remember correctly, the 12+ numbers actually gave WHYY-FM a higher rating than WPHT. I don't have access to the book so I can't say more, but that shows a solid audience for WHYY-FM.

Philly has a crown jewel in WHYY-FM.

 

[MattParker]

I agree with Matt, that WHYY-FM has an excellent product in both Radio Times and Fresh Air. My guess is, eventually we could also hear Radio Times go national via NPR as Fresh Air did, which would be another feather in the cap for WHYY-FM. Marty Moss-Coane's show is very well done, both on local Philly topics as well as the national ones.

Much as I admire MMC, I hope she and the station resist the temptation to go national - unless of course, Radio Times continues as a local show and a new national show is developed for MMC's abilities. They'd have a hard time getting clearances going up against On Point and Diane Rehm (who is heard in this area on NJN Radio) in the 10-noon slot. But to paraphrase Bill Campbell, Talk of the Nation is worse than listening to paint dry, in my opinion. I think at least some news-talk public radio stations might welcome an alternative to Talk of the Nation as well done as Radio Times. NPR might be unwilling to distribute such a show but that still leaves PRI.

 

[pab]

I agree with Matt, that WHYY-FM has an excellent product in both Radio Times and Fresh Air. My guess is, eventually we could also hear Radio Times go national via NPR as Fresh Air did, which would be another feather in the cap for WHYY-FM. Marty Moss-Coane's show is very well done, both on local Philly topics as well as the national ones.

Much as I admire MMC, I hope she and the station resist the temptation to go national

"Radio Times" is already carried nationally on Sirus/XM. It's carried live on the main NPR channel ("NPR Now") with a repeat at midnight, and three replays are scattered throughout the day on the secondary channel ("NPR Talk").

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Are both hours aired? Generally one hour is devoted to Delaware Valley issues and the other hour features national topics. I could certainly understand NPR/ Sirus/XM airing the national topic, but not the Del Valley/Philly topics. That would be like On Point doing nationally a Boston/New England topic.

 

[philadelphiawx]

Are both hours aired? Generally one hour is devoted to Delaware Valley issues and the other hour features national topics. I could certainly understand NPR/ Sirus/XM airing the national topic, but not the Del Valley/Philly topics. That would be like On Point doing nationally a Boston/New England topic.

Yes both hours air.

Chiming in on HYY, I much prefer Dave Heller doing the local for morning edition than Jo Ann Allen. I prefer Dave's presentation style and I think he's better at reading stories -- just my preference.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

I'd agree, but Jo Anne has improved since she first started, or maybe I'm getting used to her style.